Frequently
Asked Questions: (Please note, this page is currently under construction.
Not all FAQ's have answers listed.)
What
time does school start and get out?
The
school day begins at 7:45 a.m. and ends at 2:10 p.m., except
on Wednesday (modified day) when it ends at 12:15 p.m.
A
tardy bell will ring in the morning at 7:50 to announce the
begining of instructional time. Students are marked tardy if
they join their classrooms/teachers after this bell.
Supervision
is provided beginning at 7:30 a.m. Do not send your
children to school prior to this time, unless your child is
enrolled in Klassic Kids. Students need to go directly
to the playground and wait at their classroom line-up area or
run/walk laps (weather permitting) on the field.
Students
should go directly home at the end of the school day unless
attending an organized after school program. Supervision is
provided in the lunch arbor on Wednesdays until 12:35 p.m. for
students who are eating lunch at school.
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What is the first day and last day
of school?
School
begins the first week of September, the day after Labor
Day. For the 2007-2008 school year the first day of school
will be September 4, 2007. The last day of school for the
2006-2007 school year will be June 19, 2007. Our last day
of school is a modified day, students will be dismissed
at 11:00 a.m. and no lunch will be served.
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How
do I report an absence?
You
may now use e-mail to contact the attendance office at
Gage School to verify your child's absence.
Please
send the following information to:
pkelly@sandi.net
Subject:
ATTENDANCE
-
Child's
name
-
Reason
for Absence
-
Date(s)
of Absence
-
Room
# or Teacher's Name\
- Your
Name or Relationship to child
Of
course you may still chooose to
call (619) 463-4688 and leave the same information.
Since there is an answering machine at that number, you can call
24-hours a day to leave a message.
Gage
Elementary staff cares about students and we are encouraging
families whose children bring snacks to make sure that the
food provided is nutritious. In an effort to maintain healthy
lifestyles, we randomly award Healthy Snack buttons to those
students who participate by choosing wisely. Below is a
suggested list of healthy snacks that students can eat during
the first five minutes of recess, as well as a list of snacks
that students are discouraged from eating.
| |
Encouraged |
Discouraged |
| |
Fruit
or Vegetables
Nutrition Bars
Cheese & Crackers
Low Salt Pretzels
Bagels
Low Sugar Muffins
|
Donuts
Top Ramen
Chips
Cookies
Candy
Cupcakes
Hot Cheetos
Pork Rinds
|
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What
time are breakfast and lunch?
Breakfast
is served each morning in the cafeteria from 7:30 a.m. to
7:40 a.m. and a hot lunch is served daily.
Lunch
times vary by grade level. Grades 4 and 5 have a lunch break
from 11:30 a.m.-12:05 p.m., grades 2 and 3 break for lunch
from 11:50 a.m.-12:25p.m., and grades K and 1 break from
12:10 a.m.-12:45 p.m.
On
Wednesday (modified day) lunch is after dismissal and supervision
is provided from 12:15 a.m.-12:35 p.m.
We
encourage our students to bring a nutritious lunch. Students
are not allowed to bring bottled or carbonated drinks, coffee,
or tea to school. Additional information and lunch menus
are available at the SDUSD
website.
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How
do I pay for breakfast and lunch?
Breakfast
is available for $.75, beginning at 7:30. Lunch with milk
is available in the cafeteria daily for $1.75. Lunch is
free to qualifying students through the National
School Lunch Program (NSLP). New certification applications
for free and reduced lunch will be sent home at the beginning
of each school year. The most convenient way to pay for
school meals is via the website, www.paypams.com
where you can establish an account using your child's
student ID or PIN. If you do not have this information,
please call the Food Services Helpdesk at (858) 627-7330.Through
the website, you may pay with a credit or debit card and
monitor your child's balance at any time. It sometimes takes
2 to 3 days to credit your child's account, so please send
a sack lunch during this 3 day period.
Alternatively
you may send cash or checks made out to San Diego City Schools
to cover the costs of meals weekly or monthly. Send the
checks (clearly marked with your child's name) to the cafeteria.
Each child has a PIN number and separate account. It is
very important to specify how much money is to go to each
child's account, if you are paying into more than one meal
account. Please be sure there is money to cover your children's
meals at all times. The office is unable to make lunch loans.
If
your children brings lunch from home, they may purchase
milk in the cafeteria for 25 cents. We do not sell soda
to children. Please do not send sodas to school with your
child's lunch. Sodas will be replaced with milk or water.
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Who
do I contact about after school programs?
Klassic
Kids (paid
for by parents)
Harmonium, Inc. operates childcare facilities before and
after school and although on the Gage campus, they are not
directly affiliated with the school. For more information
about their programs, please call Klassic Kids at (619)
460-3750.
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What
if we are late to school?
Tardies
ALL
students arriving after the tardy bell at 7:50 a.m.
are considered tardy.
Students
who arrive at school before 8:00 a.m. should go directly
to their classroom where the teacher will mark them
tardy. Students arriving after 8:00 a.m. need to report
to attendance for a late pass. The attendance
office can be easily found by students by following
the blue line that begins at the door of the front office
and leads into campus, around the corner of the building
and to the left.
Bus
students arriving late due to busses will be issued
a "late bus pass" at the bus loading zone.
These are not counted against students on their student
record.
ALL
tardies (regardless of time or reason) will be recorded
by the attendance clerk.
Teachers
will call home if students are routinely tardy. The
school will inform parents of excessive tardies and
may be obligated to report students to the School Academic
Review Board (SARB) if tardies exceed SARB regulations.
Truancies
A
truant student is one who is absent from class without
permission or is tardy to class for more than 30 minutes.
Truancies will be reported to the counselor immediately
for parent contact. State law mandates that
truancies will not be tolerated.
To
avoid confusion, if your child is not able to attend
school please call the Attendance Office at
(619) 463-4688. You can leave a message at any time
or send an email to pkelly@sandi.net.
See Recording an Absense for
necessary information.
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What
if I have to pick my child up early from school?
Any
person picking up a student from Gage must present
a photo ID and their name must appear on the current enrollment
card. Adults (18 and older) must come to the
office and complete required documentation before the
student will be released.
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Should
my kids bring homework with them when we go on vacation?
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How
do I set up a conference with my child's teacher?
Parent
Conference Days
are scheduled for an entire week in November. Student dismissal
time for all conference days is 12:15 p.m.
Parents
and teacher may need to meet for additional conferences
for some students; parents are urged to initiate conferences
by sending a note or email directly
to the teacher or by leaving a message at the office. Teachers
are happy to accommodate parent requests for conferences.
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My
child woke up with a fever, can he/she come to school?
When should he/she return to school?
The
staff a Gage sympathizes with parents who have to make early
morning decisions about sending potentially sick students
to school. A child's temperature can be at it's lowest point
early in the morning, please keep them home if it is above
100.5 degrees. He/she should not return to school until
24 hours after a fever. Even with a normal temperature your
child may not be ready to return to school. Check their
coloring, appetite, and behavior. Does the stomach ache
go away on the weekend and return on Monday?(see
the article below)
If
you do send your child to school, have a back-up plan in
case he/she needs to go home again. Typically, sick children
cannot stay in the nurse's office for the remainder of the
school day. Parents will be contacted and expected to make
arrangements for a sick child. Please keep your list of
emergency contacts current and make sure that list contains
the names of people you may need as a back up on sick days.
To make changes to this list please contact the office staff.
For
a good article on this subject check out Your
Child: Too Sick for School?
Reviewed By Charlotte Mathis, MD, By Jeanie Lerche Davis,WebMD
Feature
Does
your child feel sick on school days but is cured by Saturday?
Here's a good article on this subject:
What
should I do when my child tries to get out of going to school
by saying she's sick?
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How do I become a volunteer?
Classroom
Volunteers
Adults
are encouraged to volunteer in classrooms and to share their
talents with students. Volunteers are needed to work in
the library or on special projects. If you are interested,
please contact Carlos Arias, Parent Coordinator, at (619)
463-0202 x166.
Classroom
volunteers must have a current TB test on
file at Gage.
School
Community Planning Team (SCPT)
The
SCPT is a collaborative group made up of the administration,
teachers, support staff, classified staff, and parents.
Its purpose is to consider recommendations and make decisions
with respect to developing, reviewing, and monitoring long-range
goals and plans that deal with curriculum, instruction,
student achievement, school and community relations, and
organizational issues. The SCPT meets monthly and meeting
are open to everyone. Minutes and agendas are posted in
the office and workroom.
School
Site Council (SSC)
Three
teachers, one classified staff member, five parents, and
the principal serve on the School Site Council (SSC) to
assist in setting school goals They monitor the School Improvement
Program and budget for the current year. Parents are nominated
yearly to serve a two-year term. The SSC meets monthly concurrently
with the SCPT and meeting are open to everyone. Minutes
and agendas are posted in the office and workroom.
Gage
Foundation
The
foundation was established in September 2001 and raises
funds to support Gage. To get involved with the Foundation,
click here
or email them at gageschoolfoundation@yahoo.com
to let them know you are interested, or call the school
office.
5th
Grade Booster
The
5th Grade Booster committee is comprised of parents and
family members of students in the various 5th grade classrooms.
The goal of the committee is to raise funds for and to organize
the 5th grade activities celebrating promotion from Gage
Elementary School. For further information or to get involved,
contact the school office.
Everyone
a Reader (EAR)
This
program is staffed by volunteers who provide individual
attention to our struggling reader to assist them in making
progress in reading. For further information contact the
EAR Site Coordinator, Julie
Newman at jjjsnewm@cox.net or call (619) 461-3071(h)
or (619) 267-6000x248. (w)
English
Language Advisory Committee (ELAC)
The
principal, bilingual Project Assistant, and families of
our English language learners make up this committee. Their
purposes are to promote family involvement and to advise
the school in language learners. For more information, email
Carlos Arias
or call him at (619) 463-0202.
Partners
in Education
Community
businesses enhance our instructional program through the
donation of time, goods, money, support, and services. We
are fortunate to have as our partners, California Coast
Credit Union, La Mesa Branch and Wendy's on Lake Murray
Blvd.
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Where
can I get a TB test?
Parents
and other volunteers can get their Tuberculin (TB) skin
tests done at the Public
Health Dept., their private medical doctor, or the district
TB clinic held at the San
Diego City School's Maintenance and Operations Center
the first Monday and Wednesday of every month.
Some
of the middle school nurses and the high school nurse are
at their sites five days a week and may consider doing TB
tests, but parents would need to call first and make arrangements
with them.
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How
can I help support the Gage Foundation?
The
foundation was established in September 2001 and raises
funds to support Gage. To get involved with the Foundation,
click here
or email them at gageschoolfoundation@yahoo.com
to let them know you are interested, or call the school
office.
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How do I contact the principal?
It is
best to reach Mrs. Zitsman by calling the school office
staff directly at (619) 463-0202.
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What
are the school's office hours?
The
office is open between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.
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What
are kids allowed and not allowed to wear to school?
The purpose
of a school dress code is to keep the school environment wholesome,
safe, and focused on instruction. Students are to be appropriately
dressed at all times. In keeping with that intention, we ask
that parents consider carefully what is purchased for school
wear.
Students
engage in physical education activities daily so clothing
should be comfortable and enable participation without being
immodest. Please be sure clothing, particularly jackets and
sweaters, is identified with the student's name.
If
students arrive improperly dressed, parents will be contacted
and asked to bring a change of clothing to school. If parents
cannot be contacted, students will be sent to the nurse's office
for a change of clothing.
Caps, clothing
or accessories with suggestive or vulgar words, logos, or designs
that advertise or promote violence, drugs, gangs, alcohol, sex,
intolerance or other illegal items are not allowed. Gang colors
or gang style of dress is forbidden.
We recommend
wearing regular athletic shoes with low heels and soles to allow
participation in daily physical fitness activities. All footwear
must remain securely on the foot. Clogs, flip-flops, high heels,
open toes, and shoes not fitted or strapped a the heel are not allowed.
Shoes with wheels are not allowed (wheels will be confiscated for
student safety).
Dangling earrings,
long necklaces, chains, make-up, tattoos, and glitter are not allowed.
Hats must be
worn with the brim forward and removed while inside buildings. No
stocking caps, sweatbands, or bandanas may be worn.
Clothing which
is immodest or tends to disrupt the educational process is inappropriate,
including half shirts, halter tops, mini skirts, or clothing made
from transparent material. Midriffs may not be exposed and straps
on tops must be at least two inches wide. Shorts are encouraged
to be worn under dresses to allow for athletics.
Students with
temporary coloring in their hair will be asked to wash it out.
Pants must be
of appropriate length/size of the student and must be fitted or
belted at the waist.
Students are
asked not to wear body-piercing jewelry, except in the ears.
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